Sunday, December 6, 2015

Step

"Step" is song by Vampire Weekend in their album Modern Vampires of the City. As a whole, the song speaks about the human relationship with music. The song looks at different human experiences towards music and how people's react with it.



The song begins with the repeated line "Every time I see you in the world/You always step to my girl" This line, while not the refrain, is repeated throughout the song and sets up an extended metaphor. "Girl" is actually music. This line is also multidimensional as it implies moving to the rhythm of a song, but it also speaks about people having similar musical tastes.

The first verse talks about the singer's (Ezra Koening) relationship to music in the past. The refrain then begins with the lines "The gloves are off, the wisdom teeth are out/ what you on about?/ I feel it in by bones, I feel it in by bones" The wisdom teeth being taken out signifies the ending of pain which connects to the power of music to strip things down and make them simpler, making the listener more comfortable. This is also evident in the proceeding lines, "I'm stronger now, I'm ready for the house."

The next lines "Ancestors told me that their girl was better/ She's richer than Croesus, she's tougher than leather/ I just ignored all the tales of a past life/ stale conversation deserves but a bread knife" talk about how different generations identify with different music. "Ancestors" are older generations who believe that their music is superior. The use of Croesus is also important, as Croesus was the king of Lydia (Anatolia) and was renowned for his wealth, stressing how much the older generations prefer their own music. Furthermore, Croesus was also famous for his fall, which was his own fault as he prepared for war, thinking that he would win based on a prediction from an oracle. This may imply how at one point or another, popular forms of music will be eventually supplanted by new forms in the future.

The lines in the third verse echo the sentiments stated in the previous verse, "We know the true death--the true way of all flesh/ everyone's dying, but--girl your not old yet." This line talks about the inevitable end of all things, but also the singer's confidence in his own music. Overall the tone of the song reminds listeners that while music may fade into obscurity, a person's connection to certain music may never fade.

3 comments:

  1. I'm glad you linked the lyric video to the song because the visual adds to the meaning of this song. It seems like there are just too many poetic devices in this song to analyze. The explanation of Croesus really expands the lyrics and adds to the "what" of the song.

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  2. I like how you talk about how the tone of the song adds to the meaning. I would usually ignore something like tone in a song, but it really does change the whole meaning behind a song. Also, the imagery in the music video adds to the tone, so I liked that you included the music video.

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  3. Your analysis of the song's use of Croesus really adds to your argument. I like how you not only explained the obvious meaning of the word Croesus, but went deeper and explained his downfall. Good job!

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